


Off into the Sunset

by gomushroom



Series: Green Light~ [1]
Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Community: shoexchange, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 08:11:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13853619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gomushroom/pseuds/gomushroom
Summary: One day, Mainichi Planet’s Chief Editor Sakurai Sho was in the wrong side of Chiba when superhero Aiba-chan saved the day from (possible) harm. A week after that, Sho met his neighbor’s new roommate, Masaki, on the apartment hallway and locked outside his apartment.





	Off into the Sunset

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was Aiba!Alien and I ended up taking that prompt literally; Aiba is that guy from Planet Krypton in this alternate universe of Tokyopolis along with Sho!Lois Lane. _Green Light_ (especially that delicious Aiba's line) had been a true inspiration. Contrary to my original plan, this fic ended up being more of a get-together centric and not as action packed or overly dramatic as the summary may have suggested. And, to my beta, a very special thank you!!!
> 
> Also, this fic marks me (finally) writing all Arashi pairing in a romantic setting fic. It only took me 6+ years, haha; this been a really long overdue. I had so much fun trying to write Sakuraiba dynamic. There will be a continuation--even if I cannot promise anything at the moment, because I definitely had gone overboard with this. :D But until then, here's something from Sho's month!

Sho can only stand transfixed, perplexed, and stare as the man—with long red boots, _tight_ blue and red body suit showcasing the miles long legs perfectly, with ripped abs and expanse of broad strong chest under the latex, his red cape billowing behind him, and, oh wow, jet black hair swept back, hotdamn—hovering in front of him. Gone is the hard set expression the man sported a few moment ago, now he is giving Sho a small reassuring smile, head tilting with a concerned expression.

“Are you okay, Mr. Reporter?”

Sho wants to nod in reflex, but he has questions. Lot of questions. Should he be afraid for his life? Should he turn and run and just get the hell away from there? But Sho looks down and belatedly realizes his phone is still recording, for 8 minutes and 25.01 seconds and counting now.

“Mr. Reporter?”

Sho startles. He blinks in confusion, trying to shake off his shock, unable to find his voice to reply. Why is he so jumpy all of a sudden? And he’s supposed to answer that question. He says, weakly, “Oh. I am?”

“Are you?” 

“I am,” Sho says again, changing his tone a bit. He finally snaps out of his shock and remembers to turn off his camera, lowering his phone, saving the video, and putting it back to his pocket. “I am okay. I’m fine.”

The man simply raises his eyebrows, still staring at Sho with his sharp eyes. “You don’t look fine.”

Yeah, Sho wants to say, it’s _you_ that looks fine, but he manages a weak smile instead. ”I’m fine, really. Or I will be. Just a bit shock because… What just happened? What was that? And who are you?”

The man, unexpectedly, nods with understanding, “On behalf of Chiba, I truly apologize for the inconvenience then.”

“Excuse me?”

The man continues gravely. “Juvenile delinquency rate has been alarmingly increasing in Chiba lately. It’s very unfortunate that you have to witness an unpleasant example.”

Sho only nods, and now that he feels a bit calmer, he turns away to get a better take of his surroundings. Three police officers along with their backups have arrived on scene and currently handled the most of the situation. The gang of teenagers causing single-vehicle collision has been secured and is in the middle of being transported away. The wrecked car that crashed the traffic light poles has been pulled aside. 

“What will happen to those kids?” 

“There will be punishment for minor offenders, but they will be taken under care.” The man says, and when Sho turns to look at him in a slight disbelief, the man adds. “But what concerns me most right now is you, Mr. Reporter. Will you be okay?”

Sho frowns at how the man addressed him, a nickname that he finds rather amusing. “I guess.”

“You guess?” 

“I will be,” Sho says, albeit he knows that it would take more than few minutes to get over his shock. And now that he’s much more of himself, he does what his journalist brain has been telling him to do. “And I think I know you. Somehow. I am trying to remember if I have ever heard of you. I think I have heard of you.”

“Mhmm,” The man smiles again, with amusement this time, but it’s quite apparent that he’s not telling. “I might have been just flying by around the area and wanting to help.”

“I only have vague memories right now,” Sho says, cursing his memory for failing him at an important moment, “But I remember you were seen outskirt of Tokyopolis several times, making the news. Around the pier, and that you are helping the authorities. I just don’t remember what we call you.”

The man is clearly amused by now. “We?”

“We as the general population, and the media.” 

The laugh Sho hears coming out of the man is endearing, and he cannot help to smile at it. “You seem to be holding up just fine now, Mr. Reporter. I should leave you to your day then.”

“Wait.”

“Take care, Mr. Reporter,” The man bows gracefully. Sho just notices that the man has been hovering all throughout their short conversation, before retreating back in a swish of his red cape and going airborne.

Sho has to hold in a flinch as he sees the red cape soaring away into the distance. He shakes himself, forcing his mind to clear and to decide his next action, not caring if he is still standing in the middle of the pavement, with his heart still hammering in his chest.

Half an hour later, deciding that it’s enough excitement for one day and that he needs to go back to office Sho finds himself at the local train station—one he was trying to reach before the collision, and on his way to wind his way back to Tokyopolis.

The train is less crowded since it’s just barely after lunch hours. He takes a far corner seat and starts a basic Google search. Hitting several local articles from Chiba, and one from Mainichi Planet, written by someone—Sho doesn’t recognize the name now but he can trace the news back later, he finds out more about the man. 

Aiba-chan.

That’s what people have been calling the man. A handsome man with superpowers, acknowledged by authorities as he utilizes those powers to help people of Chiba. And of Tokyopolis, as of late.

With the shaky video of the collision that Sho recorded, he could have set on a good editorial piece—but something gives him an inkling that there’s more into this Aiba-chan. He makes short notes on the back of his planner and sets to thinking mode when another realization suddenly hits him. 

Mr. Reporter?

How did the man know that he is a reporter? Aiba-chan clearly addressed him as Mr. Reporter right of from the beginning. How?

That’s definitely a question for later.

Way later.

Back at his office floor, Sho takes a quick glance of the newsroom, mostly filled with the afternoon desk staff, focused on their computer screens or idling after their morning. It is nearing the afternoon deadline anyway.

Nino looks up from his screen when Sho walks past him, greeting him with a frown. Sho goes straight to his office, forgoing his desk and opting to slide down in a slump on the visitor chair. Closing his eyes, he lets out a relieved groan. When he opens his eyes after a blissfully quiet three seconds, Nino is already standing in front of him.

“You don’t look too good.” Nino only gives an even stare when Sho rolls his eyes at him. “Did something happen? Or should I call Toma over from his sick bed so you can shout at him again?”

“Things happened. It’s Chiba after all. And, no, I prefer you don’t call Toma so he can get a proper rest. I’ll shout at him when he’s back on his feet later.”

Nino continues to stare. “And?”

“And get Keiko in here as soon as she’s back. I have an assignment for her.”

Nino doesn’t ask, only bowing slightly, before leaving Sho’s office.

Sho finally gets up, going to his desk to load his phone video. He resists the temptation to have another rerun of the whole thing. Instead, he makes several screen caps to print. He then cuts the important bits, the events especially—leaving out the part where he managed to film Aiba-chan walking to him in that sure and charming gait.

Keiko knocks first before taking a peek into Sho’s office. “You wanted to see me?”

“Come in,” Sho says, picking up few pages printouts, and welcomes Keiko with a smile. “I have a light assignment for you.”

“Light assignment?” Keiko makes her way to Sho’s desk and takes a seat in one of the visitor chairs. “That’s interesting. How light exactly?”

Sho walks around his desk and hands her the printouts. “This shouldn’t disturb your normal workload. I need you to do a research. On Aiba-chan. I vaguely remember that there's sighting about him in a cape near Narita, several months back. You should also check that out.”

“Alright.”

“You also need to see this.” Sho taps his phone to play the video, the first minutes of his recording. He had quickly and smoothly edited out the part where he stood awestruck since it is not significant. It’s not a near death experience, nothing to write home about. Keiko manages to get enough data for a proper report. By the next day, he logs in to his work account from home and reviews Keiko’s report.

Now that Sho has a solid photo instead of a shaky video capture, the cursive letters on the man’s chest clearly forming the name Aiba-chan. While the red and blue tone definitely comes from Superman, there’s something different. It seems that Aiba-chan is quite famous in the midst of Chiba. There are several news clips about him helping the local police to secure several vandal boys.

After the deadline for the day passes, Sho puts the report on his desk, spends 3 hours looking at the pages and working on his own research. He sets aside the reports on his top desk shelves, having the thought that there’s going be something more about this man later.

Way, way later.

 

*

 

The next week goes on without anything major. As a citizen of Tokyopolis, Sho is content without any disturbance, but as the Chief Editor of Mainichi Planet, he’s running out of hot news to report. With the New Year to come, Sho is sure they will be back into busy mode soon enough, but it has been a few boring days in the headlines front.

That night, he exits his apartment elevator and finds a man in heavy winter coat sitting on the hallway floor, back leaning against his neighbor’s door, legs folded and head down.

Sho tries to make of the man as carefully walks toward the man. “Hello. Is everything okay?”

From the flop of mussed dark hair, Sho recognizes the man as Masaki, Ohno’s new roommate from across the hall. 

The man looks up, eyes bleary and tired, and smiles weakly at him. “Ah, Good evening, Sho-chan. Sorry for the trouble, but I forgot my keys.”

“And where’s Satoshi-kun?”

Masaki shifts a bit, tightening his coat as he answers with a soft voice. “He’s away for fishing trip tonight. I tried to think of a way, but it’s nothing but breaking on the door lock or entering in through the balcony window. So, I think I could just wait.”

Sho blinks in horror. They live in the 3rd floor, and Masaki is talking about going through into the balcony. It would be so high above ground. That’s dangerous. And to sit in the hallway, waiting for Satoshi-kun to return from his fishing trip in the morning, on such a cold night. That’s also dangerous. He simply could not let such things happen to his neighbor and makes his decision. He offers his hand to Masaki. “Let’s just go inside before you try anything dangerous. Or if you want to wait, I think it’s better to wait indoor, where it’s warm.”

Masaki only blinks, still sitting on the ground and staring at Sho’s offered hand. Now Sho can see the puffs of his breath, and how the man is slightly shaking from the cold. “I don’t want to be in your way. If I can just go to your balcony, I could just…”

“No, that’d be dangerous. You can stay the night. Satoshi-kun will be home by early morning, right?”

“I don’t want to impose. I can just wait. I’m sure that—“

“You’re definitely not. Not at all,” Sho says. He extends his hand further and smiles when Masaki takes his gloved hand. He gives a slight pull to have the man standing up. Once Masaki is standing beside him, Sho reaches for his keys, opening his apartment door. “Let’s get inside and get us warm before planning anything else.”

They huddle a bit on the narrow entryway, and Sho quickly readies a pair of slippers for Masaki. “Come in, come in.”

Sho goes to flip the light and heat on before shedding his thick coat and gloves and heading straight to the kitchen. He doesn’t think that his apartment is appropriate for guests, with all the mess he hasn’t picked up from the living room, but this is an emergency, and he hopes Masaki will understand.

He’s already putting a kettle on the stove, planning to get the man some hot drink—Sho is thinking about the fancy Chinese tea he received not long ago, when Masaki enters the kitchen, now out of his heavy coat but still wearing a thick sweater.

“Thank you very much for this,” Masaki says softly. He already looks a little bit better with a little warmth. “But it’s still dangerous to just let anyone in your apartment.”

Sho has to smile at such a weak excuse. The man is obviously freezing, and Sho couldn’t possibly let him there in the hallway. “Satoshi-kun shares his beloved apartment with you. You’re not just anyone. It would be much more comfortable here. Although, I don’t really have anything— Ah, here we go.“

The kettle whistles, and Sho works his way around his small kitchen, preparing the mugs and the tea bag. He feels Masaki staring at him in silence, seated on one of the high chairs by the kitchen, before turning to slide a steaming mug of hot tea for Masaki.

Sho replies Masaki’s bright and grateful smile with his own, and at that moment a flash of memory resurfaces. He just can’t place it somehow.

It is another five seconds before Sho catches himself—frowning while staring is rude—so he clears his throat and asks Masaki the first thing he could think of. “Have you had dinner?”

Masaki’s smile widens and Sho realizes that he hasn’t been accommodating—simply focusing on the hot tea. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Where are my manners?” Sho rushes to the side of the kitchen counter, and belatedly remember that he only bought one bento on his way home. “I only have one takeout bento, but if you don’t mind, I suppose we could share. I don’t really have anything on my fridge.”

There’s a low chuckle, and Sho looks up to find Masaki staring at him with amusement.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t usually receive any guests,” Sho says.

“Sho-chan,” Masaki is laughing this time, and Sho likes how Masaki is calling him—probably because Satoshi-kun has been telling him about his nickname. “You’ve been nothing but kind. And I think I know how to deal with dinner.”

“Oh?”

“Can I borrow your kitchen?”

“Huh?”

“I have some fresh ingredients.” Masaki reaches to the floor before holding up two grocery shopping bags. “I was thinking of fixing something for dinner anyway, so if you allow me I can fix something very fast for us.”

“Oh, okay. That sounds like a good idea. Of course, you’re welcome to use my kitchen. If there’s something to use… I don’t know.”

“I’m sure you have a pan or two,” Masaki says. “Or salt and pepper.”

“Well.” It would be a lie to say that Sho doesn’t know that he has a pan or two. He remembers a set of pans he hardly ever uses and crouches down to the lower shelves to retrieve it. When he sets the dusty pan, he also sets the small pan he used to cook water for his late-night craving of instant ramen on the counter. “I hope these will do.”

“I’ll make it work.” Masaki laughs again—Sho is beginning to enjoy the soft-pitched sound. He stands up from his seat and finally walks around the kitchen counter with his grocery bags. “I’ll take it from here if you don’t mind.”

Sho nods, and then moves away to give space. He takes his tea mug with him and in turn takes a seat on the high chair. Masaki seems to have things under control at the kitchen, at least way better than he does. He watches Masaki digging into his bags, setting cabbage and a package of fresh bean sprouts on the counter.

They are silent for a while, as Masaki is deftly moving in Sho’s narrow kitchen. Sho helps him when Masaki asks for a knife—which is under the second shelf from the left, cooking oil—which Sho fortunately has in his fridge, and Worcester sauce. Masaki begins to chop leaves of cabbages, and Sho spies two packages of chuuka noodles next to the grocery bags. And by the next minute, the frying pan is already sizzling and Masaki starts to throw in one ingredient after another.

“Could I have some plates, please?” Masaki says, his back to Sho, hands busy stirring the pan.

“Oh, sorry.” Sho startles, shaking himself into focus, and goes to fetch the plates from the shelf before setting them by the counter. “Two, okay?”

“Totally,” Masaki says. And he turns with pan in his hand, serving two large portions of yakisoba, golden brown in color and smell heavenly.

Sho hums in delight. “This looks _really_ good.”

There’s a warm flush on Masaki’s cheeks, unlike no more than half an hour ago when the man was freezing in the hallway. “Just simple food, from an old family recipe. I hope it’s to your liking.”

After setting two pairs of chopsticks and settling on his seat, Sho waits Masaki to finish setting the used utensils and washing his hands. He can only pray that his embarrassing stomach grumbles go unnoticed.

“Ah, your takeout bento,” Masaki says as he takes his seat back next to Sho. “Should we heat it up?”

“I’ll put it on the fridge for later. This looks impressive. Very impressive,” Sho says in awe. He glances a look at Masaki, not caring much about being impolite, he’s just realizes that he was really hungry. And Masaki gives him a kind smile and a hand signal to let Sho partake first.

Sho takes a large first bite and doesn’t mind letting out a satisfied moan.

It is just yakisoba, but it’s probably the best yakisoba Sho has ever had, the sautéed vegetables rich with flavor, the noodle savory and with the perfect amount of sauce. It has been ages since Sho has had hot nice food at the end of the day. He takes a second large bit, barely finished chewing as he exclaims, “Oh my god.”

“It can’t be that good.” Masaki, still holding his chopsticks and watching Sho with a pleased expression, lets out a chuckle. He finally partakes, way slower with his eyes still fixated in Sho’s apparent gusto. “But I’m glad it’s to your liking.”

“It’s very good,” Sho says, already inhaling a quarter of his portion, before remembering something that’s been missing. ”I’ll get cold beer for us after this.”

Masaki takes a large bite himself, humming in the same delight of warm food. “Mhmm. That’d be perfect.”

After the first delight, Sho takes his time in enjoying the meal, chatting with Masaki about spending the night in his apartment instead. They know Ohno will not be back until early in the morning. Masaki accepts the offer rather reluctantly, not wanting to intrude more into Sho’s night routine, but he doesn’t have a lot of choices. When they agree on the arrangement, they partake another round of beer before Sho heads first into the shower as Masaki offers to clean up the kitchen.

Sho at least has more confidence when it’s time to dig up spare futons and bed sheets. At least he’s doing his laundry properly and is never out of fresh sheets.

Masaki is already back into the living room, fresh out of shower, sitting on the edge of the sofa as Sho comes out of his bedroom with spare pillows and a thick blanket. “I can’t thank you enough for taking me in for tonight, Sho-chan.”

“I wish I could be more of help,” Sho replies, offering a small smile at Masaki.

“You have done more than enough,” Masaki says, obviously noticing how tired Sho looks. “I suppose you should’ve gone to sleep already. I hate to keep you awake.”

“I just— You have everything you need, right?”

“I think I do,” Masaki says before the tone of his voice lowers and continues, “Good night, Sho-chan.”

“Okay, just—“ Sho doesn’t know what to say, really. “Good night.”

Masaki throws him a very warm smile, and Sho nods to excuse himself.

He enters his bedroom, closing the door behind him and finally lets himself to feel his heart beating wildly. He wants to dwell more on it, to question about it, but exhaustion takes over everything. He walks into bed, and quickly settles in. He falls asleep the moment his head touches his pillow, and begins to dream of a kind smile, flashes of a red cape, and comfortable warmth.

The next morning Sho wakes up to find Masaki has already gone back to Ohno’s apartment, the futons folded neatly by the sofa, and a pot of warm coffee on his kitchen counter along with a note.

_Pick a day, and let’s have late dinner again!_  
_Thank you very much for last night_  
_Have a nice day and take care, Sho-chan_  
_AM_

Sho finally sets the note down, after staring at it for a long minute. He smiles at _take care, Sho-chan_ and wishes Masaki the same.

 

*

 

By the end of the month, the baseball league finals round is finally over and the newsroom has somehow returned to its usual pace—Sho doesn't truly understand the sport but he knows the importance of it for his readers. His sport page main staffs usually go into madness during the season, and it’s Sho’s job to accommodate many assignments distribution requests and last-minute revisions.

Monday afternoon, after the staff meeting for the night deadline is done, Sho requests Toma and Keiko for another extended meeting. They will need new monthly feature themes for the following season, and Sho has decided that Keiko and Toma will collaborate with him for one of the main features.

“Nino confirmed that we can just use the meeting room,” Keiko says. She sets a new file folder next to her tablet and takes her seat. “He said he’ll let you know when your next appointment arrives.”

“Good. Let’s begin with the basics,” Sho says, turning around to see Toma is still fiddling with his presentation file at the corner of the long conference table. “And Toma will be joining me with some solid drafts. He promised a presentation, which he’ll be conducting as soon as he manages to operate that computer.”

“Sho-kun,” Toma says, rolling his eyes at his screen. “This one has a new operating system. I just need a few minutes to make sure this works fine.”

“Keep up, old man,” Keiko says, a grin on her face when Toma aims a glare at her.

Sho begins with reading some of his notes: “As I just said in the staff meeting, the higher ups have several suggestions for our features, one of them being the new hero in the city. They want us to do a special coverage in addition to the daily reporting. Now, while I won't take you off from your daily assignments, I’m thinking of having a weekly feature on this.”

Keiko nods when Sho turns to her, and rolls her eyes as Toma is still fiddling with his files. “I assume you want both of us to collaborate?”

“It’s more like the three of us,” Sho says, ignoring a distracted ‘yeah’ from Toma. “While I will only hold a supervisor role, the higher ups wanted to make sure that this is ongoing smoothly, or at least until the hype dies down.”

“With you on the team, this will be a very strong feature, Sho-kun. I know it’s been a while since you were actively involved in current affairs specifically, but I can only say one thing now,” Keiko says with grin. “This is going to be fun.”

“Keiko, I did the election coverage last year. It hasn’t been that long,” Sho says with a laugh. “I can’t be that rusty.”

Keiko shrugs. “At the very least, I don’t have to work this out alone with that old-man.”

Toma is finally looking up from the screen. “Watch it, Keiko-chan.”

“And to go back on track,” Sho continues. “Toma is going to handle the field work with some of the results also in that presentation he’ll be conducting soon. But both you and I, Keiko, have already done our research even before these events are happening in Tokyopolis.”

“Yes, about that,” Keiko says, nodding as she begins to flip her documents. “I have been working with the local branches to collect more information. I can also employ some of my interns to dig deeper, shall the occasion arise.”

“Great. That’s solid work, Keiko. I also agree that we will need to cover a lot of background stories in order to support the current events,” Sho says. “And it would be a good time to join us, Toma. How’s that setting up going?”

“Just a little bit more,” Toma says, swearing under his breath. “I just need to—“

“Are you sure you don’t need my help, old man?” Keiko says. “I probably can fix whatever your problem is with just a few clicks.”

“You being technological-savvy is because you spent so many times with these machines, whilst I have to run around—“ Toma gives Keiko a distracted wave. “Ah, here we go. Yes. Now we’re talking. Yes.”

By the fourth ‘yes’ from Toma, Sho and Keiko are simply waiting for Toma to figure this out and start the presentation already.

“Yes, yes, that’s good.”

Keiko only sighs at more of Toma’s distracted ‘yes’ while Sho begins to grow impatient. “Toma, it’s been 2 minutes of only ‘yes’ and nothing else.”

“Sho-kun, I’m sorry, but wait, just wait a little bit.” Toma begins to type something on the keyboard, nodding in satisfaction. “It’s going to be worth it. I had my interns working on this, and now with some of my final touch…”

This time Keiko and Sho sigh together, audibly.

“I don’t want to give away too much, but the first slide should make the greatest impression,” Toma begins, now that he seems to have solved most of his technical problems. He allows himself to straighten up, entering his presentation mode, and turns to face Keiko and Sho with a cheeky smile. “I’m terribly sorry for the wait, Sho-kun. And Keiko-chan, it’s going to be great to work with you again.”

“The presentation, Toma,” Sho reminds him. “We’ve been waiting for ages.”

“Exaggeration. It’s no more than 10 minutes,” Toma says, grinning at the light reprimand. “But, you’re right. Let me just start with saying that you both haven’t said anything about our guy’s name.”

“True,” Keiko says.

“Aiba-chan,” Toma says, giving another second of pause before he continues, “His name is Aiba-chan. People have been calling him Aiba-chan, and now he’s the hero of Tokyopolis, I suggest we call him nothing but… Aiba-chan.”

Sho almost rolls his eyes at the cheesy bordering pointless opening of presentation but Toma has it timed perfectly because a second later the image of Aiba-chan is clearly projected on the far wall screen.

“Oh, wow.” Keiko is the first one who comments. “That’s a damn good picture.”

Sho has to agree, wholeheartedly, because whoever took this photo definitely deserves the raise he’s going to be giving effective immediately.

In the photo, Aiba-chan is standing by the ledge of a building, his jet-black hair swept back and the red cape elegantly billowing behind him. Not to mention that since Aiba-chan has one leg up in the ledgers, the photo clearly shows those incredible long legs in tights and boots, and those ripped abs. With the clear winter sky above, the low angle of the photo captures the impressive contrast of personified strength and—Sho cannot help to think—hope.

Sho looks up to meet Toma’s sparkling eyes, and says the first thing an editor of his level needs to say. “Please tell me this picture’s ours.”

Toma grins. “This amazing photo is taken by one of my interns who had been, as per my instruction, assigned to wait and take a good shot near the building during the pier incident yesterday.”

“A damn good photo indeed,” Sho says with pride. “Now, let’s hear the rest. Why are we not using this for tomorrow’s edition?”

“Because this will worth the wait. I’ll get to that later.” Toma answers confidently before turning to Keiko. “First of all, Keiko-chan will be able to give the most accurate estimate, but Aiba-chan has been around in Tokyopolis for more than 2 months now.”

Keiko nods. “2 months and 23 days from his first recorded appearance in Odaiba to be precise.”

“But he has already been around much, much longer than that. As an example, your encounter with Aiba-chan was more than three months ago, right, Sho-kun?” Toma glances to his notebook before looking up and finding Sho nods at him. “In Chiba, the man has been working for justice for more than two years.”

“Is that from a reliable source?” Keiko cuts Toma’s explanation. “The most far back archive I’m able to access at this point is article from Kisarazu's local newspaper about a minor accident at the port two years ago. But nothing before that.”

“We found something on a local high school zine, around Wakaba,” Toma explains further.

“Around where I met him few weeks ago,” Sho adds without breaking Toma’s steady pace.

“Exactly. The location was one of the reasons I found it solid enough to be included in the background,” Toma says, pausing a bit to glance at his notebook again. “And now, since we’re going for team work, I suppose Keiko-chan would want all the background research we found to draft a feature.”

“Gladly,” Keiko says with a smile. She turns to Sho for confirmation. “My assumption is that I will work on the background story, right?”

Sho nods. “Correct. Meanwhile, Toma will focus on the hot current appearances. Breaking news and the hot headlines”

“I’ve no problem with hot. The man _is_ hot.” Toma flashes a toothy grin before he continues. “With you working on the lengthy editorials, I can’t be more onboard. And you’ve been pitching this to the higher ups, too? That’s some fast work.”

Sho dismisses the compliment and continues, “We have six months for the first try. Sure, we don’t know what and how much this team will generate, but I believe this news is going to be big enough for continuous headlines, and at the very least a few memorable editorials. I’ll be relying more on you, Toma, for the field. And we’re going to have more background before we trickle them into the current affairs news or editorials, Keiko. I’ll have you work on that. Full credit where it’s due, as usual.”

Keiko nods as she makes notes on her notebook while Toma cheekily gives thumbs up.

“And that means, I need to dress up to go to the City Hall more often.”

Keiko smiles as she says, “Just forgo those hideous ties on most days, Sho-kun, and you’ll be alright.”

“We all have to make sacrifices.” Sho rolls his eyes at Keiko. He glances at his watch and finds out that he only has 5 more minutes before his next meeting. “Anything else?”

Keiko shakes her head and closes her notebooks but Toma grins wider as he walks over to his computer again. “I’ve been fiddling with headline drafts—“

Sho decides he could hear Toma, after all the man made them both wait for full 5 minutes. “You have two minutes.”

“Thank you. I’ll make this quick.” Toma quickly moves to his computer again. “And because pictures _and_ captions speak much more than a thousand words—“

Keiko is snorting loudly beside him, but Sho can only blink in shock as he now sees the large black font words over the amazing photos.

_MAN OF STEEL...ABS_

“What the fuck?” Sho can barely contain his surprise, and if he’s is honest with himself, astonishment. The captions might be shallow or tacky at best, but they sure deliver a strong punch. “Toma, I hope you remember that we are running a daily newspaper, not a gossip tabloid.”

“Sho-kun, hear me out on this first,” Toma says with his hand up in the air in surrender. “I know this sounds terrible, but no one has coined a label yet. And this is as good as a label could be.”

Keiko hums, and shrugs. “It’s cheap. Extremely cheap. But it could work. For whose favor, I don’t know yet, but it’s catchy.”

“And his abs,” Toma adds. “Don’t tell me you don’t zoom in on those hot abs.”

“I hate to say it,” Sho says, eyes glaring at Toma’s hopeful grin and Keiko’s careful smile, “But yes, it could _probably_ work.”

Toma lets out a small ‘yes’ and Keiko chuckles, but Sho refuses to agree easily. “I said probably. If we’re going to use your cheeky caption, I’d need a solid feature about his actions to help the city. People need to know that he’s so much more than those hot abs.”

“Well, he's devastatingly hot, abs included,” Keiko says with a dreamy expression.

“Keiko!”

“Sho-kun, I’m married, not blind,” Keiko says with a shrug. “You know they say sometimes the cheap ones are the ones that sell. And I have to agree to that this time.”

“And there are others—” Toma turns back to his computer to hit the next slide, now that he has Sho going, he’d have thought he could get another one approved.

“Send those to Nino and I’ll review them later,” Sho says with finality, cutting him short. The meeting is over—and if he can have extra minutes before his next meeting for a quiet coffee time, it’d a be better use of his time. “Same with your reports, Keiko, this is no longer a light assignment.”

Keiko is already on her phone, making notes and probably sending assignments. “Got it, Sho-kun.”

“And, Toma, I want to see this photographer intern of yours along with his portfolio and resume. This afternoon, if possible,” Sho says as he walks toward the door.

“Got it, Sho-kun,” Toma says with a smile. “I’ll send him up before the end of his shift.”

“Thank you for your time, both of you. I’ll expect your reports on my desk by tonight.” Sho takes one last turn before he leaves the room. “Good work, guys.”

 

*

 

Sho arrives home way later than usual, his mind full with flashes of images of Aiba-chan in that dazzling photo. Keiko’s report has been nothing but thorough, entertaining and insightful. As he approaches his apartment door, he notices a white envelope taped to his door. A messy scrawl with his name on it, _Sho-chan_ , gives away the sender. Chuckling quietly, Sho takes the envelope and heads inside.

Why would Masaki send him something? Masaki never gets locked out again in the hallway—Ohno also makes sure that he sets a spare key at Sho’s—but now that they have exchanged numbers, at some nights Sho finds Masaki waiting by the hallway before they settle to have dinner at Sho's kitchen.

Masaki insists that it's his way of paying back Sho's kindness, even as Sho keeps on saying that it's nothing compared to the hot food Masaki is cooking for them. Sho was only letting him sleep over at the couch for one night—it’s just manners and normal kindness, but Masaki seems to consider it the greatest favor of all time.

Sho doesn’t want to refuse hot delicious food after all, but there should be limit to paying back a favor.

He heads into the kitchen after setting his winter coat by the couch, pops a can of beer, and begins to open the envelope carefully. Inside, there’s a letter with the same messy scrawls.

_I’m sorry for missing our Wednesday dinner_

Their Wednesday dinner? Sho frowns as he tries to remember. They didn’t actually call their dinner meeting by any name, but now that Sho thinks about it, Masaki always comes over on Wednesday and it _is_ their Wednesday dinner.

Fine, if Masaki wants to call it their Wednesday dinner, Sho can also go with it.

_Oh-chan roped me into a fishing trip! It was a last minute invitation but I couldn't refuse. I’ve been wanting to try open sea fishing for a long time_

Sho glances to check the time and finds that it’s a bit over midnight. That means Masaki’s not home yet—he shudders as he imagines both Masaki and Satoshi-kun are still out there in the dreadful winter weather, in the open sea no less.

_But I had made preparations to cook for you. Even bought spring onions and stuff. So hopefully it’d be okay for you if I come over in the morning and we can have breakfast instead?_

Breakfast?

_My phone somehow got misplaced and I can’t find it right now, so I’m writing this letter. Apologies for the handwriting. Have a good evening and let me know how you think of breakfast._

Sho chuckles as he reaches the end of the letter, finding a poorly drawn cute pan and spatula with the signature _Take care, AM_.

Sho takes a small sip of his beer. He wants nothing but a hot shower and sleep, but he needs to reply Masaki’s message. Wait. If Masaki doesn’t have his phone with him how on earth should Sho contact him?

He considers leaving another letter on Ohno’s door, but anyone could read his reply. Or perhaps shifting the letter under Ohno’s door, even if that would risk having the paper slipped somewhere and not being found. Or perhaps, Sho smiles at the idea, it would inconvenience Ohno slightly, but he could drop a message to Ohno to reply to Masaki.

Somehow, not wanting to get second thoughts, Sho whips out his phone from his bag and composes a short reply. _Satoshi-kun, would you mind letting Masaki know that I accept his offer? If I sleep through my alarm, he can use my spare keys. Keep safe out there!_

Sho only gives the message a quick reread before sending it. And after shower and on his way to bed, he sees a read notification but no reply. He trusts Ohno to relay the message, or he’ll just figure things out in the morning if it doesn’t work.

Sho’s next conscious thought is warmth and an amazing waft of scent. He groans as he shifts under of fluffy blanket, sleepily peeking at the clock on his bedside drawer. 06.45 AM. He still has 15 more minutes until his alarm goes off, but there’s a soft sound that could only come from his kitchen. Wait. What was—? Sho then slowly remembers that Masaki’s letter and his reply, so most probably it is just Masaki. Already? The man did say breakfast, but at this hour?

Sho groans in annoyance as he leaves the warmth of his blanket, blearily grabbing a clean sweater from somewhere around the foot of his bed before shuffling out of his bedroom.

The sight that greets Sho at this moment will remain in his mind for as long as he remembers: Masaki hunches over the stove with his tousled jet-black hair in a dark sweater and low waist loose jeans. The man is crooning a familiar song Sho couldn’t name, and looking very much at home in Sho’s kitchen.

Yet Sho will also not forget the scent that welcomes him in the kitchen: “Miso?”

Masaki startles and lets out a small shriek, turning quickly and looking fairly relieved at finding out that it was just Sho. His smile wavers a little bit but his greeting is warm. “Good morning, Sho-chan.”

“G’morning,” Sho replies. It’s probably because it’s too early in the morning but funny feelings flutters in his stomach, his heart beating faster in his chest. He tries to smile back at Masaki, but it’s definitely still too early. “Not even 7 yet.”

“We were back just after dawn, and I couldn’t sleep,” Masaki says after putting the lid of the pan and turning to face Sho. “Oh-chan gave me your spare keys before hitting the bed, so I thought of starting a bit early since I didn't know what time you’d be leaving for work.”

Sho nods sleepily. He really should have coffee before interacting with others but Aiba smiles and he doesn’t mind waiting for a bit longer.

“It’s not as fancy as I usually come up with during dinner. I thought you’d enjoy something simple instead.”

“Simple?”

“Yeah. The rice will be ready in 10 minutes. A little burnt on one side tamagoyaki,” Masaki chuckles before he continues, “Sorry for that. I also had salmon on my fridge so I just grilled it with salt. And, ah, miso soup.”

Masaki stares at Sho in confusion when Sho only frowns and pouts. A minute of silence fills the apartment and Masaki is beginning to shift uncomfortably on his feet.

“Masaki?”

“Yes?”

Sho takes two quick strides across the kitchen before stopping just in Masaki’s space. He takes in Masaki’s surprised expression, knowing that this might not be a thoroughly planned decision but he feels he must do this now before his logical thoughts have a chance to talk him out of it. Sho takes that last step and pulls Masaki into an embrace.

“Sho-chan?” Masaki softly says. He sets the spatula carefully on the counter and thankfully doesn’t move from where he’s standing.

Sho breathes in Masaki’s warmth, clouded by the heat of the stove, the lingering scent of miso, and tries to explain. “This is not simple.”

In a way Sho hopes Masaki knows that he is not only talking about the breakfast, but also about them. 

It’s too early to say that they have anything between them, but Sho doesn’t even resist the thought that there is definitely something, no matter how small, between them.

Masaki is there in his kitchen, making him breakfast. Sho might forget and fail to realize that they have been having Wednesday late dinner for a while. They have just met months ago. But this feels right for Sho, and for once he doesn’t want to think, he only wants to be close—it feels so good to have Masaki in his arms, as they stand together there in Sho’s kitchen.

So what if it’s too early, Sho’s sleepy brain says, if it feels comfortable then why not embracing the moment? So what if later, when his brain has functioned properly, Sho might realize how embarrassing it is for him to suddenly hug this kind man in his kitchen? So what if now in his state right now Sho could only produce a 4-words sentence at best? He can still convey his feelings, his gratitude.

“It’s never simple with you,” Sho says softly. “Never simple.”

“Okay,” Understanding and refraining from asking explanation, Masaki tentatively wraps his arm around Sho and gathers him close. “Is this okay then?”

Sho nods against Masaki’s neck and lets out a happy sigh as he leans closer, pressing both of them close. He breathes Masaki in, a hint of familiar soap, distant scent of ocean, and enjoys having Masaki’s arm wrapped loosely around him—and they stay there, locked in embrace, for another minute before Sho sighs again.

“Masaki?”

“Yes?”

“Please tell me you have coffee.”

“We do.” Masaki lets out low chuckles, causing Sho to melt further into the hug at the comfortable vibration they are sharing. A warm hand begins to give Sho’s arms comforting rubs, before he answers. “Should I get it for you?”

“In a moment,” Sho says. There’s one more thing he wants to know, and his sleepy brain knows that he needs to ask this one before coffee, before they have to start their day. “Will you stay?”

For breakfast, Sho wants to ask. For more late dinner dates, Sho wants to say. With me, like this, close and together.

Masaki’s laughing this time, and Sho’s sharpening logic becomes more and more aware that Masaki’s warm hands are still giving him the most comfortable rubbing on his back, that they are still pressed against each other. With his eyes, warm and bright, straight on Sho, Masaki smiles as he gives his answer. “I will.”

Sho smiles in return, and—who cares about overthinking, certainly not him, not now, Sho would later blame all this on his addled sleepy brain—leans to land a quick peck on Masaki’s lips. “Thank you.”

Sho tries to lean away afterward, but Masaki’s arm is keeping them close. Then it is Sho’s hold on Masaki that tightens when Masaki leans forward to catch Sho’s lips with his, demanding a longer kiss, and whispers against Sho's lips. “No. Thank _you_.”

Loosening their embrace a bit without letting go, Masaki keeps Sho close and reminds him. “Do you want that coffee, now?”

Sho chuckles as he nuzzles against Masaki’s neck, wanting to enjoy the feeling just a little bit longer, especially now that his heart is singing, his head a bit dizzy from unexpected joy, so early in the morning. “Yes.”

 

*

 

Nino doesn’t make mistakes; but in a case when he makes one, it’s definitely a terrible one.

It’s partially Sho’s mistake since he failed to remind himself of his own appointment, but Nino is Sho’s PA for the exact reason of reminding Sho about his appointments. And now Sho only has less than 10 minutes to get to the City Hall. He cannot afford to be late, not when he has been granted the opportunity to finally work his part in his special team.

As the largest publication in Tokyopolis, Mainichi Planet is guaranteed a front row spot in almost all City Hall Press Conferences, but if Sho’s late, it’s going to be a disgrace not only to his reputation as one of the top Chief Editors but also for the newspaper.

With 5 minutes to spare, Sho manages to pass the security check and check in with Toma’s staff, Murakami and Yokoyama, for details about photographer and videographer briefs. They will be seated at the back of the room, so they will separate. Sho quickly explains his planned questions, passing the printout briefs, before taking his seat at the front row.

The agenda for today’s press conference is the city’s official statement after the successful relief work for the major landslide over the West Tokyopolis, one of the worst natural disasters in Tokyopolis in the last decade. Sho arranges his notes, tries to calm himself, and gets ready for the main event.

The City Press Secretary appears on stage first, and everyone is sent to alert.

Sho shifts in his seat in, straightening his tie, and waits. Mayor Matsumoto enters the room and step on stage first, dressed in his signature suit, eyes tired but focused. His eyes sweep the room, calling for attention and getting it, before heading to center stage. Joining behind him, the Police Chief and the head of Tokyopolis Emergency Management Agency stand firm.

Then, Aiba-chan enters, sending the room into a momentarily still.

Sho tries very hard to keep his expression neutral, knowing he is within close proximity now, but he cannot believe his eyes.

When he met the man a few months ago in Chiba, the man had kind eyes, and a straight posture. He was full of smiles, attentive and reassuring, kind in a way since they had an awkward nice chat by the side of the street.

The man Sho sees on stage today is entirely someone else. Aiba-chan still wears the same tight suit, and the cape billows as he’s walking toward the center stage, but there’s something different about his eyes. They are hard, sharp, without warmth.

However, now that the man is under good lighting and directly straight on his line of sight, Sho could clearly see him, and what a sight to behold he is.

The tight body suit certainly does not hide his ripped abs, more like emphasizing the devastating effect of the appearance. In his head, Sho can hear Toma’s snickering merrily, _see, Sho-kun, I dubbed him Steel Abs for a reason_. And sitting just a step below the stage, front row without any barrier, gives Sho a clear view of those legs.

Those legs that go on for miles.

Those legs that go on for miles. In tights.

Oh.

Sho has to pinch his own thigh, hard, bringing himself back into focus because he’s been staring openly, and he can only hope that his mouth is not hanging open embarrassingly. He needs to get himself back together really quick since the City Press Secretary has officially begun the event by calling the Mayor to the podium.

Mayor Matsumoto begins his opening speech with the review and latest update from the relief work, taking his sweet time—as usual, Sho knows this already—to touch the main issues.

Sho is now half listening as he sits there in the middle of the front row, unable to take his eyes off of Aiba-chan who is standing with an aloof expression next to the Mayor.

“The city have had tremendous help from Aiba-chan, and for that we are beyond grateful. The city would also like to extend our deepest gratitude,” Mayor Matsumoto continues, “for all the help and support we have received from the citizens of Tokyopolis during this difficult time. We are aiming to continue the relief work even after the immediate rescue period ends.”

Sho startles a bit as his eyes meet Aiba-chan’s. It must be only his imagination when he takes in the flash of surprised gaze, faint recognition from Aiba-chan, because the next moment, their eye contact breaks and all what’s left for Sho to see is the previous distant and serious Aiba-chan.

Mayor Matsumoto continues to answer several questions regarding the details of the relief work from several reporters. Almost five minutes later, there’s nothing more than what is on the agenda, the press conference simply goes as planned. 

Sho could have done this reporting in his sleep, taking notes and marking to compare with the recording from Yokoyama and Murakami later. He has questions rounded up, a list of pressing issues he could use to demand information from the mayor. But he does none of that. Instead, Sho sits through the whole press conference practically staring at Aiba-chan.

He will need to pay the price for his substandard reporting later. He will have to endure extra hours to make sure his report is above passable. But at that moment, Sho decides it all worth the unobstructed and close up view, smack center front row, of Aiba-chan. 

 

*

 

Sho has just put his phone in his pocket, swinging the plastic bag filled with snacks on his left hand when he opens his door and finds Masaki with his hand outstretched for the doorbell paused midway.

“Oh, hello.”

“Sho-chan,” Masaki smiles in his greeting, “I was just about to quickly stop by to say goodbye and have fun for the weekend.”

Sho can’t conceal his disappointment. He was thinking of catching Masaki at Ohno’s today during their weekly TV time. Sho has been extremely busy with work lately and had to cancel two Wednesdays already. “You’re leaving now?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I’m going to be late,” Masaki says, adjusting his large backpack strap on his shoulder. “But can I have a word? Just quickly, and then I really have to go.”

“Sure. Come in then.” Sho says, taking a step back into his apartment and opens his door for Masaki. He leads them to his living room, and after setting his plastic bag on his armchair, he turns to face Masaki. “Do you want to sit down for a while?”

“No, thank you.” Masaki looks sad as he shakes his head. “I need to catch my train, and—“

“Masaki.” Sho reaches out to touch Masaki’s arm, trying to calm him—is Masaki nervous? Why? “Can I help you with something?”

When Masaki only stares at him for long seconds, Sho steps closer and tilting his head in question. “What’s up?”

“I was— I was wondering if you want to go to Chiba on the weekend with me?”

Masaki is speaking very fast and Sho barely catches anything. “What?”

“I usually made a trip to my parents on the weekend. You told me that you’d want to see the better side of Chiba since the last time you went there it wasn’t all good. So I’m thinking why not take you there next weekend. We can have seafood and go to the beach.”

“Seafood?” If he has to be honest later, Sho could swear that it was the only thing he clearly hears out of Masaki’s quick sentences. “Okay.”

“Really?” Masaki’s face lights up beautifully, and Sho knows that he’s given the right answer by agreeing. “There’s no rush though. I know you usually still have work during the weekend. We can find a good time, adjusting to your schedule. I am already happy that you’re willing to go with me.”

Masaki is still speaking in fast pace, but now Sho gets the gist better. He smiles as he says, “If you can tell me about details later, I’m sure we can plan something soon.”

“Okay, I really have to go now, but I’m glad I got to meet you before I do.”

Sho feels his cheeks warming and decides to let his arm goes around Masaki’s waist, giving the man a firm tug, both to steer the man back to the door because he’s in a rush and to take close hold of Masaki because Sho kind of misses him. “Come on. It’s not that you’ll be away for a long while. You could’ve just texted me and we can still talk.”

“I also wanted to meet you. It’s been two weeks,” Masaki says with a flush on his face before nodding and following Sho’s lead. “Sorry for being in a rush.”

Just at the end of the entryway, next to the door, Sho stops them and presses himself against Masaki. “I don’t want to make you late for your day, but this will only take a moment.”

Masaki is smiling as his hand reaches up to run through Sho’s hair. They sigh into the kiss, ending it together before it can set up anything further.

“I really have to go now,” Masaki says, a little breathless. He drops a quick peck on Sho’s flushed cheek, straightens his posture, and reaches for the door. “Talk to you later?”

Sho nods as he gives Masaki a little wave of his hand distractedly. “Safe trip, and have fun.”

Masaki breaks into a run as soon as he’s out of Sho’s apartment. Sho takes his sweet time to watch him disappear into the stairs door, leaning against his doorframe with a silly happy smile on his face for a little longer.

Later in the afternoon, Sho ends up across his apartment, lounging on Ohno’s comfortable couch on late evening.

Together they are enjoying a Manzai Tournament Finals Night as part of their random afternoon weekend gathering. Ever since Ohno bought his huge TV set, most of Sho’s free Saturdays are spent on Ohno’s home as they share greasy deliveries and inconsequential gossips.

When it’s half show time, they begin partaking beer with snacks and chips Sho brought over. Sho sometimes gives commentaries for several comedians, and Ohno bursts out laughing when he finds one of the contestants was funny.

At a commercial break, Ohno gives Sho a nudge. “Another round of beer? Masaki left some gyoza for us, so I can also pop some into the microwave and we can snack on them.”

“Sure.” Sho has gotten through so far without bringing up the topic of Masaki, but he knows that this evening is the perfect time to ask Ohno more about the man. He’s been waiting and planning for this opportunity.

At the next commercial break, Sho finally takes his chance “Satoshi-kun,” he begins. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

Ohno only shifts a bit in his seat, and turns his head to face Sho as he pops a piece of gyoza into his mouth. “Yes?”

Sho laughs at the antics, and goes to crack open their beer cans first before asking -- as he also waits for Ohno to finish chewing. “About Masaki.”

“Alright.” Ohno takes the beer and gives himself a large gulp before giving his full attention to Sho.

Sho can feel the flush of embarrassment rising up his face but he must ask. “I just. Mhmm, I don’t really know how, or perhaps what, to ask actually.”

“About Masaki?”

Ohno sometimes is perceptive, and Sho is thankful for that, and he suspects Ohno has known that all those dinner meetings together over Sho’s apartment mean more than what meets the eye.

When Sho is still busy trying to form his questions, Ohno helpfully says, “He’s a good guy, if that’s what you’re trying to ask.”

“I know he is. But more like…” Sho says with a grimace. It's obvious then that Sho will have to spell it out, not that Ohno doesn't understand but more like Ohno couldn’t answer questions that he doesn’t know. Sho settles with stating the obvious first. “I like him, Satoshi-kun.”

“I know,” Ohno says with a soft smile.

“But it's barely a few months and lately I’ve been very distracted with work.” Sho continues with the most obvious fact. “He’s been nothing but very nice to me. You know that we share those late night dinner. But I don't know him aside from what we’ve been talking to each other.”

Ohno nods and says, “He's been here for almost a year.”

“Why didn’t I meet him sooner, when we have our weekly TV time or for something else too?”

“He is not always around on the weekend, when you’re here. His parents live in Chiba, you know this already, and he almost always goes there to visit them in the weekend,” Ohno says. “You’re the one who’s always busy. Remember your two months election feature? Then your baseball final month? Even I’m getting dizzy from your schedule.”

Sho sighs because Ohno just stated the truth. At the beginning of the year, he was one of the members of the election editorial team and had been taking his office sofa as his makeshift bed, working intensely for a solid two months. But now he’s been coming home, at least more regularly than he used to.

Also, the mention of _Chiba_ kind of reminds Sho of a certain figure, in his red cape and blue tight body suit.

“I’m sure if you ask he would gladly tell you more about himself.” Ohno says, bringing Sho back to the conversation by giving reassuring pats on Sho’s shoulder. “I am not saying that I know everything about Masaki, but he's a good guy. He said he liked dogs the first time he came here.”

“Satoshi-kun, I'm not saying that he's a bad guy.” Sho has to laugh at Ohno’s reference of the dog. “It's just that I don't know much about him. I thought you would have known him better since you're sharing living space.”

“He is reliable, very kind, always helpful.” Ohno pauses and frowns as he tries to come up with additional information to share. His face lights up when he remembers more. “And his blood type is AB.”

“Huh?” Sho chuckles softly. “I don’t think that’s the kind of information that I need.”

Ohno sounds puzzled. “That he's very kind?”

“No. The AB type.”

“You never know with the blood type. You might need it later.”

Sho rolls his eyes even as he smiles. “It's as useful as knowing his favorite bread.”

“He likes the hard bread. One he eats with wine,” Ohno says with a serious expression. But Sho knows better.

“I know that already,” Sho says. “Which is why I said it’s useful. Sarcastically.”

Ohno grins at Sho as he picks up his chopsticks and pops the last gyoza into his mouth. He keeps his gaze on Sho, kind and warm. “You know that I'm happy for you, right, Sho-kun?”

Sho nods, his face flushed now,

“So, have fun in Chiba,” Ohno says, smiling knowingly. “At least for once you are not spending all your weekend working.”

Sho hums in a slight annoyance. Ohno means no harm, and yes he’s been spending too many weekends working even from home, and he truly hopes to have fun with Masaki this time

They fall into their familiar silence again with Ohno shifting his attention back to the TV with a laugh as he finds the comedian super hilarious. Sho on the other hand is left with his thoughts, trying to digest what Ohno has been saying. He picks up a half full beer can and takes a long swig; he definitely needs, as Ohno has said, to plan.

 

*

 

Sho has already getting ready for bed when Masaki’s message arrives.

_and bring an extra change of clothes_.

_why?_

_just in case you decide to try out to sumo boat tube._

_sumo? and what tube?_

_you’ll see._ Masaki has punctuated the message with lots of cute emojis and Sho can only smile at it. _it will be fun!_

Sho doesn’t answer the message right away. He busies himself with googling what a sumo boat tube is and finds videos that actually look like a lot of crazy fun. 

After he finishes watching one of the videos, he decides to go along with Masaki’s suggestion, packing towels and toiletries too. Just in case. _but can we at least keep the sumo boat tube on hold? it looks too crazy right now but I’ll bring an extra shirt._.

_that’s a spirit!!!_

Cute. Why is this guy really cute? Sho succumbs to the temptation of rolling on his messy bed, bumping into his stacks of books and folded laundry as he lets out muffled squeals.

The next day, Sho texts Masaki again when more details come up in mind. Mostly, Sho wants to have the control over going to and from there. Who knows that he might have to go at midnight because of something? It’s always nice to have a backup plan. _maybe I’ll bring my car instead, so we don’t have to use the train. is that okay with you?_

_completely okay!_

Sho only sends a few grinning emojis as a reply, but he begins to conjure a set of plans in his mind, smiling throughout, forgetting that he needs to work in the morning.

Regardless of his initial uncertainty, once Sho works out a solid plan, he is excited to go. 

He’s been excited all week, looking forward to spending the weekend with Masaki. After being excessively strict with the arrangement of the weekend shift, and receiving unexpected encouragement from Nino who suspiciously doesn’t protest even if he has to work overtime in his place, Sho is ready to have his first weekend trip in a long time. The fact that he’ll be going with Masaki only makes his excitement skyrocket tenfold.

Sho has just finished drying his used coffee cup, his overnight bag already by the entryway, when he opens his door to a bright but visibly nervous Masaki who stutters his greeting. “Ah. Hi.”

Smile widening, Sho feels instantly at ease as he sees the same signs of nervousness on Masaki. At least they are nervous together. “Morning.”

“Shall we?”

Sho nods. “Ready when you are.”

It has been a while since Sho drove around in his car, and after setting the first destination—Masaki has kept it a secret from Sho, only telling him that they are going to have the best lunch—they hit the road. Sho puts one of his old CDs on the player, setting the volume fairly low. With slightly open windows letting in the cool winter morning wind, they swiftly enter the expressway.

“It’s been a long while since I took a drive back to Chiba,” Masaki says. He’s been lounging back on the passenger seat, completely comfortable with Sho’s driving.

“I haven’t driven around for a long while myself,” Sho says. “When I was still a junior journalist, I sometimes took the car for an aimless drive just to clear my mind.”

Aiba smiles. “I think bringing a car is a good idea. The train could get crowded at this time of weekend.”

The silence that comes after feels wonderful and peaceful. But there’s a tinge of guilt creeping over Sho’s mind, knowing that he has suggested taking his car because of a reason. He wants nothing but to enjoy this weekend with Masaki, so he decides to go with the truth upfront. He clears his throat before he says, “You know, I actually have a confession to make.”

“Confession?”

“Yeah,” Sho says, taking a deep breath before he begins. “I suggested us to drive instead because I want to make sure that I can always drive back if something goes wrong.”

Sho can feel Masaki staring at him, but he and keeps his eyes straight on the road. 

“Wrong?”

Here comes the hard part, Sho thinks, and continues. “We only have been, I don’t know if it’s the right word, together for a while. And I didn’t mean it in a bad way but we still need to know each other more, don’t you think?”

When Masaki only hums—no longer staring at him, Sho slightly notices—Sho wonders if he’s going to ruin the weekend even before it starts. But since he has started this, he might as well finish it. “I don’t know what to expect, and that doesn’t settle well with me. It’s nothing to do with you, or anything, it’s just me needing to know how things work, especially for something I haven’t done or places I haven’t visited.”

“And you kind of worked on something like a worst case scenario in your mind?”

“Yeah,” Sho says with a nod.

“Like what?”

Sho doesn’t really want to answer that question but he doesn’t have much choice by now. At least Masaki’s tone still sounds soft and kind. “Promise you won’t laugh first.”

Masaki chuckles at that. “I promise.”

“The worst thing that can happen would be—” Sho begins, steeling himself because he knows what he’s about to say is utterly ridiculous. “—that I got lost. Maybe you’d be fine around your hometown, but I might not be. Or that there’s no reception, and I can’t access my map when I got lost and am trying to head back. Or I might misplace my phone somewhere and cannot check my inbox and there’s a catastrophe back at the city and I will be left out of loop till Monday. Or if there is— Masaki, you promised you wouldn’t laugh!“

Trying to be true to his word, Masaki is not actually laughing. Out loud. He has both hands over his mouth, holding his chortles in without much success.

Sho quickly swings his hand, hitting square on Masaki’s chest. When he turns quickly to aim a glare, he catches Masaki’s eyes sparkling with amusement, and lets out a groan. “You promised!”

“You’re so—“ Masaki tries to say, before he has to put his hands over his mouth again and muffled something that sounds suspiciously like, “cute.”

Sho is shaking his head in amusement. It has been an unfounded fear it turns out, for that he’s glad, but he feels a pleasant flush rising up his cheeks just with way Masaki is laughing at him now. “I cannot believe you.”

Masaki finally pulls himself together enough to stop laughing, turning a bit serious. “Sho-chan, you’re not me. You won’t forget your keys or lose your way and if you told me about all this, I’d be more than happy to let you know about my plan.”

“I do understand that you want this to be a better experience of Chiba for me, a kind of surprise, but I just can’t help it.”

“And, as I said it before—,” Masaki says, “—it’s so cute.”

Sho wants to appear angry but all that comes out is a reluctant grumble. “Yeah, thanks for laughing at me.”

Masaki makes a short bow in apology, even as he smiles warmly. “If it makes you feel better, the worst scenario I have in mind is for me to mistake your clam obsession."

“What?”

“Well, the topic only came up one time. You talked a lot but we were both drunk, and it was only some _asari_ and your stating how much you love them on the miso soup that night.”

Sho still remembers the night clearly: it was one of the late dinner nights when Masaki showed up with a big smile on his face saying that Ohno hit jackpot on one of his fishing trips and that they are having an _asari_ party. Sho ended up having a little too much alcohol, merrily sharing the story of his clam obsession, before they ended up sleeping on Sho’s couch.

“I do love clams.”

“That’s good to know because that’s the only plan I have for us.” Masaki reaches out to stroke Sho’s arm as apology with great tenderness. When he speaks again, it is with a soft voice. “I shouldn't laugh, I know. But that was so silly. You won’t get lost. I won’t allow you.”

And because his face feels even warmer Sho swings his hand to hit Masaki’s chest again, harder this time. When Masaki catches Sho’s hand and keeps it in his hold, Sho finally smiles. “I’ll need my hand back soon.”

Masaki nods, but doesn’t let go, not for a while.

The navi system beeps before the voice instructs Sho to take the next exit. “We’re almost there?”

“Yeah,” Masaki says, eyes now on the road. “I never drive to get there, but it’s not far from here.”

They go past few intersections before turning to a smaller road. The navi system tells them that their destination is within half a mile. “Is it one of those houses over there?”

“Yeah. I think you can park just next to that garage,” Masaki says, pointing out to what appears to be a dingy garage.

Sho cannot help to feel a bit uneasy. “Are you sure this is the place? And it is safe to park here?”

“Hundred and twenty percent sure,” Masaki says with excitement. “I know the owner and I made a reservation already. Let’s go have that lunch.”

Sho goes out the car and follows Masaki as they go around the garage. They arrive at a small pier with rows of stalls with grill tables, and a delicious heavenly scent of grilled seafood hits Sho right off.

Oh.

Masaki walks faster ahead as he waves to one of the lady in front of one of the stalls. “Kuroda-san!”

“Maa-kun! You made it! It’s been too long since I see your pretty face here.”

“Kuroda-san, be nice. I brought a very special guest.”

Kuroda-san’s face lights up when he sees Sho trailing behind Masaki. “And who do we have here?”

“I said be nice, Kuroda-chan,” Masaki says with a playful frown. “Sho-chan here is a clam maniac.”

Sho only manages to mutter behind Masaki’s back. “I didn’t actually say that.”

Kuroda doesn’t take heed of Sho’s defense. She nudges them both to a table and gestures them to sit. “If you love clams, you have come to the right place. Maa-kun already placed order for the specials, but since we have a rare special visit, I think I need to prepare the special of special!”

“What’s the special of special?” Sho turns to Masaki after Kuroda-san disappears into the stall.

“I have no idea,” Masaki says with a grin. “But Kuroda-san surely does, so it’ll be okay. Trust me on this one, Sho-chan.”

In the next hour, Sho has one and a half bowls of rice, a large serving of scallops, and a few turbo clams he stole from Masaki’s portion. Next to him, Masaki is partaking in much slower pace than he is, wearing his proud I-told-you-so expression. Kuroda-san simply puts more and more into the grill next to them, smiling wider and wider as she watches her guests gobble up whatever she’s serving.

“Kuroda-san, this is so good!” Sho is in heaven, ready to dedicate his life for the lady or move to Chiba for the rest of his life if that means he gets to eat such delicacies at will.

“That’s what they all say,” she says with a chuckle. “And now it’s time to move on to the main course.”

“Main course?” Sho knows that he’s probably spouting some of his chewed rice, but this cannot be real. “What do you mean main course? Aren’t we on main course already?”

Kuroda-san says nothing as she dramatically places two large abalones on the grill before throwing Sho a smug grin.

Sho almost cries. “Oh my god!”

Kuroda-san laughs outright as Sho’s shameless delight devouring the portion, blissfully ignoring anything else around him. She turns to Masaki with a happy smile. “Keep this one, Maa-kun. I like him.”

“I like him, too.” Masaki grins at her and is about to say something else before Sho disrupts the moment by moaning against his plate, more like crying, as he pops the last bit of abalone into his mouth. 

“There, there.” Masaki sets his chopsticks on the table and pats Sho’s shoulder comfortingly. He turns to meet Kuroda-san’s amused gaze with a laugh. “More of that main course, I guess?”

“Coming right up.” She waves a thumb up and goes back inside.

Masaki keeps his hand on Sho’s back, absently stroking circles lightly. “You're never this loud or cheerful during our dinner.”

“That’s because you’re not grilling me any clams.” Sho laughs, slowly realizing that he hasn’t been holding back as he usually is when he is with Masaki. But now that the initial excitement of lunch has simmered down a bit, Sho finds no reason to be as guarded as usual. “Or because I was always nervous when I was with you.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because you’re too kind and I feel sometimes like I don’t deserve you. And you’re hot as fuck.”

“I don’t know clam can make you talk like that.” Masaki snorts his amusement. “And _I_ am the one who doesn’t deserve you. Having accomplished a lot at very young age, being the Chief Editor of one of the most important newspapers in the country, compared to you, I’m just a guy next door.”

“But you’re more than just that, right?” Sho quickly says. There’s more of Masaki than meets the eye, Sho cannot tell what yet, but he knows he’s willing to find out.

Masaki only nods, vaguely and almost indiscernibly, and says nothing else.

“I am waiting for the complete story then,” Sho says softly, trying to lighten up the mood. “And in the mean time I get to keep you too.”

 

*

 

They head to the beach nearby after lunch only to find it rather crowded for leisure surfing. And since they’d decided to skip sumo boat tube for the day they end up walking further and settling on the far end seawall as they enjoy the beginning of the sunset over the sea.

Masaki insists on driving on their way back. Sho, albeit a bit reluctant at first, takes the offer and let himself relax on the passenger seat, ending up drifting into light sleep as they leave Chiba. 

Traffic is friendly, so they reach their apartment a little bit later than dinnertime. Sho knows it’s probably reaching in a way that he wanted to spend more time with Masaki even if they have already had the trip for most of the day. 

At their doors, Sho gathers his courage and asks, “Do you want to come inside a while?”

He finds breathing easier when Masaki nods easily with a smile.

After a short huddle on the narrow entryway, Masaki goes to the bathroom while Sho goes to the kitchen, leaning on the counter as he waits.

When Masaki comes back into the kitchen, finding Sho standing nervously, confusion colors on his face. “What’s up?”

Sho says, “I want to properly thank you. Thank you, seriously. I had a great time today.”

A smile blooms on Masaki’s face. “It was my pleasure. This is one of my best weekends of going back to Chiba. And remember, you promised another weekend trip in the near future.”

Sho nods, still with apparent nervousness. “I do look forward to another trip. There’s a lot places we can visit next, right?”

“Yes.” Masaki is smiling—Sho feels that all Masaki’s been doing today is smiling at Sho and it’s bright, perfect, and lovely. “We totally should. And, Sho-chan, I know it’s probably me imposing again, and— But today has been… I just want….”

Stomping on his nervousness, Sho surges forward, grabbing Masaki by the waist, pressing his lips against Masaki’s in an open mouthed kiss. He is about to step back, feeling Masaki’s stilling in his arms, when Masaki’s hands sneak up to hold both of Sho’s cheeks, prolonging the kiss.

Sho sighs in delight as he presses closer to Masaki’s solid body. They part for a moment, long enough for Sho to feel Masaki’s warm breath against his lips. And Sho leans in for more, for their lips to meet slower this time, with Masaki’s angling his head just for them to find the perfect angle.

“I’ve been wanting to do again,” Masaki whispers on Sho’s lips when they part. “You have no idea.”

Sho closes his eyes and savors the feeling, like his chest is about to burst, like his head is spinning, but at the same time, a wave of relief and happiness is running through his body. “Can you stay? For a while? I know you must be tired from all the trip, but…”

“I can,” Masaki says, his lips landing soft pecks on Sho’s lips now. “I’ll even deal with light dinner if I can borrow your kitchen again.”

Sho nods, unwilling to open his eyes just yet. “I did grocery yesterday. I have things in my fridge.”

Sho feels Masaki’s chuckle, a pleasant vibration against him. “What things?”

“Meat. Chicken. And vegetables.” Sho says. “And green onions. Or was it garlic chives, I don’t really know? You know, those green things.”

“Green things?” Masaki’s chuckles turn into a chortle. He slightly shakes Sho in his hold. When Sho refuses to open his eyes, knowing he would just embarrass himself further, Masaki slowly coaxes him to meet his gaze, stroking his cheekbones tenderly. “Sho-chan.”

“What?”

“You’re very cute,” Masaki says, voiced colored with amusement and warm affection before leaning closer to catch Sho’s lips and kiss him long and proper. “You’re so very cute.”

Sho cannot suppress his half-laugh, completely enraptured. “Oh, shut up.”

 

*

 

The next Thursday morning, Sho has a spring on his feet as he arrives early in the office. A sleepy looking Nino perks up when Sho stops by his desk to ask for an update report.

“Now that’s probably the best Thursday morning look so far,” Nino says in greeting with a knowing smile—even if Sho is sure that Nino still doesn’t know anything. “You’re glowing, Sho-chan. Eww.”

Sho wonders if he’s still smiling—because last night was memorable at the very least. Masaki came over early and after their Wednesday late dinner they had fun with a new software game Masaki brought by. Sho hasn’t been playing any games in a very long time. 

He now has to school his expression and hold down his chuckles when he remembers that losing a game to Masaki was definitely the best thing that happened last night. “Does that mean I look like shit on other mornings?”

“Well, if it makes you feel ever better, I’d say you usually look like a handsome shit. But this, this is a totally better look on you.”

“Now that we caught up on talking about how I look today, give me the report from last night so I can get that cleared off today’s schedule.”

Nino lets out a grin before nodding and switching into professional mode in an instant. “About that. Everything was under control. But—”

“But?”

“Why don’t you get your morning coffee first and I’ll bring these files up for you in a few minutes.” Nino gestures him to go ahead. “I just got here less than 10 minutes ago, you caught me unprepared.”

He only squints in suspicion at Nino’s vague report, and then nods to move to his office. He can only hope that damage control won't be too much this time.

Upon reading the report, Sho finds out that there were several crimes happening last night—since Aiba-chan did not make an appearance at all. There’s already netizens buzz protesting and demanding Aiba-chan’s help. The city has been spoiled with Aiba-chan’s presence by now, Sho thinks, and the Mayor needs to do something about this, perhaps soon.

He also receives some updates from Keiko and Toma, or mostly Toma who sent him a feature article about the lack of Aiba-chan’s action during most of weekends. “Man of Steel off to Weekend Holiday?” The draft includes some quotes of several weak interviews—Sho can see that Toma is not in his best form, so he takes it as a failed draft and sets it for later development.

They have run with the _Man of Steel Abs_ headline. The title still makes Sho smiles—and that print edition was a big success, along with few thousand extra hits for the online version of the same article. But now Sho has to think of a way to approach the story in a new angle—a way to attract new readership and keep their loyal readers closer.

Nino quietly enters with another cup of coffee, knowing that Sho will need more intakes while he digests all the reports. “You need anything else before your 10 AM meeting?”

“Just one thing,” Sho says after glancing on his schedule book. “Let Keiko know I need her after work for special feature team's meeting. Make it at 8 PM.”

“And Toma?”

“I’ll talk to Toma later and let him know about this.” Sho briefly looks up from his book, nodding his thanks as Nino retreats back to his desk.

Morning goes without interruption as Sho works down his to do list, giving editing notes, typing few important assignment emails. Some of the articles are marked for revision. Some of the photos have to be tagged because they didn’t pass the bar for print publication, but could probably work in mini online articles. He moves on to the next week's plan for publication spreadsheet and revises the notes for the next special team's meeting in the evening.

By the time his alarm goes off, Sho is already packing his documents and getting ready. Heading out, he stops by Nino’s desk to drop his notes of the day and instructions. “Tell editing to get revision ready when I’m back. It should not be later than after lunch.”

“Got it.” Nino nods solemnly before waving at Sho with a smile. “Have a good one.”

“Yeah. It’ll be fun as usual.” Sho says with a chuckle. His weekly meeting with their higher ups is far from fun. It will only drain his patience and test his restrain—the higher ups always want profits, while Sho at least wants something more than that for the newspaper. “See you later.”

The meeting, as expected, leaves Sho slightly upset—what the hell were they thinking, suggesting a 30% cut of the sport section. While Sho is sure that it will cause no large setback in the operations, Sho finds the meeting an annoyance, a necessary—because the higher ups still have veto for the publication—but meddlesome annoyance.

The breaking news hit when Sho is still a few stations away from his office.

A bank robbery in Central City Bank—possibly armed robbery with hostages. In less than a minute, Nino has sent 10 chain messages with information gathered from netizens report. A few clicks later, Sho finds out that the police has already surrounded the bank since someone from the bank had managed to trip the robbery alarm before the robber took hostages.

Glancing up, Sho checks with the train direction. He is just two stations away from the exit nearest to the bank's building. He quickly sends a message to Toma, cc-ing to Keiko, and coordinating with Nino. It is a rash decision, he is fully aware of that, but the moment the train hits the next station, Sho gets off and immediately dial Nino’s desk number. He doesn’t even bother with greeting. “Damn it. I just sent Toma across town for an interview. He’s on his way back, but it’ll take some time.”

Nino sounds distracted, but Sho knows that’s probably him multitasking on his desk, trying to set Sho’s instruction in motion. “Who do you want to send then, Sho-chan?”

“Send Yokoyama and Murakami with full camera spec and the interns they need. Then, get Keiko to be on standby with her assistants to work on the hostage names. All the usual with social media stalking for possible names and family and everything. I’ll send the names the moment I get them.”

Sho can hear as Nino begins to take notes, by the sound of Nino repeating his orders in murmur as he scribbles. Now that Sho’s on street level, he sees the commotion at the end of the street, right where the bank is situated. He continues as he rushes to get there. “And tell Yokoyama, I want nothing but high resolution photos and for him to coordinate with Toma about vantage point. Murakami is to meet me. Have him contact me as soon as he gets near the bank.”

“Got it.” There’s a moment of pause. “You’re there already right? What are you going to do now, Sho-chan?”

Sho slows his pace as he sees the bank building, already surrounded by police barricades and emergency personnel. “I’ll get us exclusive access.”

Sho ends his call to Nino, realizing that now that he is just few feet from the barricade, he doesn’t really know where to go. He still needs to coordinate with Murakami, knowing the man is on his way, but first things first. 

He dials a number and an impatient voice answers the phone with a tsk. “This is not a good time.”

“Matsujun, tell me you’re not on your way to the Central City Bank.”

After a loud sigh, the Mayor says, “I hate it when you pull the senpai card so early in the conversation.”

“I didn’t use it often enough.” Sho hates to pull the card too, a reminder of his college days with Matsujun and then his ‘not-so-secret’ media endorsement when Matsujun was running for office a few years ago. “I really need an update. And solid data. And an interview, but that could be done later.”

“Sho-kun.”

“What is happening right now needs to be dealt with delicately, Mayor Matsumoto. I believe you would need me to at least give a slight spin to the story. I have my best people working on the coverage. At least let me be updated so I can lead them into the right direction.” There’s an even longer pause, and Sho gives his last push. “Matsujun, the city needs the right people to write the story.”

The Mayor doesn’t say anything for another moment, and Sho has to check his phone screen to make sure that the mayor hasn’t hung up on him.

“Fine. I’ll be on the police temp HQ. It’s on the south side. I’ll let them know that you’re to be allowed in the control room.”

The line is already dead by the time Sho lets out a relieved sigh, but he says it anyway. “Thank you.”

Sho has to reorient his bearings before he notices the black tent the Mayor was referring to. He calls Murakami and finds out that the man is just a block away from where Sho is right now. Just outside the barricade, Sho meets with Murakami and one of Toma’s interns. He sets up their earpieces and receivers Murakami brought with him.

“Has Toma briefed Yokoyama? And he is in place, getting ready?”

Murakami has sent the intern to deal with the initial set up, nodding to Sho’s question. “Toma briefed us both. He’s on his way, ETA 20 minutes.”

“Good,” Sho taps his earpiece twice, finds it working perfectly, and nods. “I’ll give you a heads up if there’s a hot update.”

Murakami only gives thumbs up before turning to set up his position. While video footage will only serve as secondary news piece, Murakami knows that it is as important as their printed material.

Sho gets escorted in soon after he presents his Press ID, satisfied that the Mayor has already made the arrangements for him. He is not surprised when he finds the Mayor already standing in the center of the communication station, talking with several Police Chiefs. Sho knows these people, and he knows that the city will be in good hands, but they also need more. Mayor Matsumoto spots Sho standing by the door, nodding in acknowledgement, but continues to finish the briefing.

When the Mayor finally walks toward Sho, the first thing Sho says is: “Couldn’t you just call him?”

The Mayor actually laughs at that. “He’s not some Batman that I could summon with flashing a huge lamp over the sky and have him come our way. It’s always the city’s fight, Sho-kun. I know, even truly appreciate, all the help that Aiba-chan’s been giving us, but we need to be able to survive on our own.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“We’re far from desperate. I suppose he will be here soon, and he would be a tremendous help, but we are making our own preparations. This kind of crime is not only about the location, but we also need to prepare for the aftermath. And that’s why I let you pull your senpai card. You want the hostage’s angle, right?”

Sho doesn’t even contain his laughter. For a politician, Matsumoto is good. For an old friend, Matsujun is even better. “You know us.”

“I know you and how you’re running Mainichi Planet,” the Mayor says with a wave, clearly distracted but maintaining focus so far. “So, I’m going to give you the unofficial name list, not fully confirmed yet, but it will be in a few hours after we do some cross checks. But I want this covered in the best possible way, so I’m trusting you with it.”

“And I won’t betray that trust. I’ll have Keiko working on that. She’s the best in this kind of coverage.”

“Good. Then I know that this will be in good hands. I’ll have my assistant provide you with the list.”

“Thank you.”

“And this might be just a precaution, but I believe you know how dangerous it is there, and you and your men need to stay behind the barricade at all time. Or I will personally kick you for being careless,” the Mayor says with a serious tone. “I know that you want to have a scoop on your Man of Steel Abs, but take no unnecessary risks.”

Sho is the one who laughs now. “We will.”

“I have my assistant give you the name and I’ll leave you do your job, Sho-kun.” The Mayor says with a conviction. “I have a city to protect.”

As the events unfolded, everything ends without too much fuss, an almost disappointing anti-climax for Sho to get no big and flashy action for the front page.

Aiba-chan, striking in his signature _tight_ blue and red body suit, arrives after an hour of intense stand off, since Mayor Matsumoto flat out refuses to arrange a helicopter in exchange of the hostages.

Within mere minutes, Aiba-chan barges into the bank, and comes out dragging two robbers, before throwing them on the asphalt. The police officers rush to secure the incapacitated robbers and rescue the hostages. The media mob behind the police line turns into a state of frenzy attempting to catch every; in his earpiece, Sho has Toma shouting over the development, excited about what he calls as definitely the best headline ever.

The whole crowd behind the police line suddenly aahs.

There’s a sound of gunshots and a third robber appears from the bank's building, carrying what appears to be an exaggerated machine gun. The man starts to open fire to the barricade of police cars, alerting everyone and turning the situation into a brand new chaos.

Aiba-chan quickly soars into the line of fire, successfully blocking most of the shots, but most of the damage is done. Smoke erupts from the car's hood, the police officers now back on full alert surrounding the source of commotion.

Left without much choice, the lone robber desperately tries to make his way to escape—and makes his choice to sprint toward the media mob behind the police line with his machine gun.

The crowd lets out loud oohs before quickly trying to retreat back.

Being in the very front row of the mob, Sho is frozen with shock. He can hear Murakami and the intern calling him to retreat, the space around him abandoned by his fellow journalists, and Toma is shouting in his earpiece, telling him to turn around and run.

But Sho’s feet is rooted to the hard asphalt while his brain frantically orders him to seek immediate safety—why the hell he is here in the center of chaos anyway? His choice in journalist work has granted him access to aftermath from with civilian viewpoints, a step away from the actual conflicts—definitely not putting him amidst chaos, being in the line of escape of a criminal on the loose.

And then a flash of red fills Sho’s sight.

The crowd, now a few steps behind Sho, lets out another loud aahs.

Sho, this time, stand transfixed, perplexed, and stares to the swish of red cape, as Aiba-chan stands gallantly in front of him, effectively blocking the robber’s path before taking down the man with quick strikes.

The crowd lets out a longer and louder oohs and aahs, cheering with a massive round of applause and shouts.

Police officers move forward to charge and secure the third robber, but Aiba-chan’s attention has already returned to Sho. He hovers in front of Sho, face flushed with a hint of panic and a deep frown. “Are you okay, Mr. Reporter?”

Sho tries to shove away his own fear, calming his raging heartbeat, before he looks up again and meets Aiba-chan’s gaze. The adrenaline rush makes his mind blurry but he recognizes, somehow, something with that voice, with those eyes, with that charming and warm smile on those curved thin lips.

“Mr. Reporter?” Aiba-chan says again, before adding in softer voice. “Are you okay?”

The voice is laden with concern, said in such familiar tone and with affection. 

What?

The ringing in his head reminds him that this cannot be real. This just cannot be real. Yet, Sho finds himself whispering, questioning, and refusing to believe even though the man is right in front of him. “What?”

And Aiba-chan only smiles, eyes straight locked with Sho, keen in waiting for a proper answer.

Everything around Sho blurs, as his sole focus becomes the man with the red cape and ridiculous tight body suit hovering in front of him and the strange familiarity. He voices the first thing that comes in mind. “I am. I will be.”

Aiba-chan stares into his eyes for another moment before gives him a firm nod. “Take care, then.”

Aiba-chan doesn’t bow, unlike the other time, and goes straight to retreat in a swish of his red cape. In a blink of an eye, he has gone airborne and away.

The crowd returns to Sho’s consciousness. He turns to see Murakami has been trying to wave him back to focus, only then realizing that Toma has been talking rapidly on his earpiece. 

“I’m okay,” Sho says, not convincing anyone including Murakami and the terrified intern. He takes a deep breath, steeling himself because now it’s time to work, not to deal with his feeling or any revelation. He says again, this time to his phone with harsher tone. “I said I’m okay, Toma. Stop shouting in my ear and tell me you got everything.”

The rest of the afternoon goes in a frantic and slightly chaotic manner. Sho still has a newspaper to run, and the night edition's breaking news to handle. Nino has welcomed him back to the office with a quick hug, and Keiko is waiting at his office by the time he arrives.

It is only because of his years of his experience and Nino’s help that Sho is able to make sure he did what he needed to do. Knowing that his work is merely passable, he does his job, makes sure the night online publication is up and running, and approves what needs to be approved for the next day's print publication. 

Sho leaves the office after midnight, and he doesn’t bother to make his usual stop at the supermarket nearby. He wants to get home, soon enough, because now he knows who’s going to wait him at home.

He is not even slightly surprised to see Masaki standing against Ohno’s apartment door.

Sho stops a few steps from the man. Instead of swept back, the jet-black hair is now mussed and standing in soft tufts. Instead of the fierce and straight expression the man shows to the world, Masaki greets Sho with tired eyes and an unsure smile. “Sho-chan.”

“What are you doing out here?”

“Waiting for you.”

“You could’ve—“ 

Masaki only shakes his head stubbornly in response, cutting whatever Sho’s trying to say. “Can we at least talk inside?”

“Okay,” Sho says, already turning to reach for his keys and open his apartment door. “But we’ll have tea first before anything.”

Sho doesn’t wait for Masaki to get his guest slippers and goes straight to the kitchen. Out of habit, he sets to fiddle with the kettle, preparing the tea while trying to calm his nerves and wondering how this talk is going to pan out. 

He finally turns to see Masaki is not sitting at the high chair—as he has expected—but instead standing nervously by the kitchen counter. Sho’s mind whirls with thousand of things he wanted to say to Masaki, but he figures it’s only best to get right on to the point. “So, AM stands for Aiba Masaki?”

Masaki lets out an audible sigh before chuckling weakly. “Yes.”

“I see.”

Masaki was about to say something but the kettle whistles in interruption. By the time Sho had two mugs ready, he walks around the counter, taking a seat at one of the chairs and gesturing Masaki to do the same as he sets their mugs in front of them.

Silently, Masaki slides into his seat, reaching to hold the mug as if it’s his lifeline. He stares into his hands before looking up and finding Sho’s eyes. “I have to apologize.”

Sho only stays silent.

“I had no intention to lie to you in any way. I’ve been trying to bring it up for a while, but I couldn’t find the chance. And I am really sorry that you had to find out like this.”

The quietness that follows settles between them and lingers.

“I understand if you don’t want to have anything to do with me anymore. I’ve practically been lying to you one way or another all this time, and it’s not right. I just want you to know that spending time with you has been so nice. I had hoped—

Sho’s hand reaches out to touch Masaki’s hand, stopping him from his rambling. “Masaki.”

“Yes?”

“Drink your tea,” Sho says, his hand waving to encourage Masaki to do so. “It’s going to get cold.”

With a weak smile, Masaki finally loosens his hold on the mug and takes few slow sips. 

“You know,” Sho begins—it’s his turn to set things straight after all. “I had been thinking, even in such a short time, it’s not that I’m shocked. Actually, I’m kind of relieved.”

“Relieved?”

“Would you believe me that I think somehow I had already guessed it? The familiarity, the timing of your absence and the scoops we’ve been getting? It explains away a lot. So, Masaki. Or is it Aiba-chan? Well, I do prefer Masaki, because that’s who you are to me.” Sho says, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I don’t like that you’ve been lying to me. But in a way, you weren’t _actually_ lying to me. That one is hard to pin.”

Masaki chuckles weakly. “Still, I do apologize for that.” 

Sho looks up, finding Masaki listening intently with his head tilting in rapt attention. The gesture is endearingly familiar by now, and Sho smiles, wide and sure. “I know that I truly enjoy the time I spent with you. I do like you. A lot. And if you are willing, I still want to spend more time with you. We still need to work out on a lot of things, but I want to try.”

“I’d like that,” Masaki quickly says, smiling back as he slowly takes in Sho’s confession. “I’d really like that. I’m going to give it my all to try this one with you.”

The next moment, in a swift motion, Sho set his mug, stands up, and steps into Masaki’s space with open arms. In perfect anticipation, Masaki parts his legs to welcome Sho, and gather him into an embrace.

They stay pressed close for a bit longer, in forgiveness, familiarity, acceptance, and new entwined hope. 

When they lean apart, Sho’s hands reach up to frame Masaki’s beaming face, feeling Masaki’s arms even more firmly circling his waist. It is Masaki who leans forward bringing their lips together with Sho sighing into the kiss and holding on for both of them. They let themselves sink into each other’s comfort before they break apart, but still staying close. Masaki’s hands are rubbing soothingly on Sho’s back, and Sho cannot stop smiling back at Masaki’s happy grin.

They still have a long way to go. They still have to have the inevitable long serious talks. They still have to agree on a convenient arrangement, with Sho’s work and Masaki’s activities. But they have each other now. 

And because Sho wants more, at least for tonight, he decides to settle a few of the important things. Light things. “Say, is it true what they said about your superpowers?”

Holding Masaki when his smile turns into a fit of laugh is probably one of the best things Sho has ever experience, the sound of it music to Sho’s ear.

“I knew it.” Masaki pulls Sho closer against him. “I just knew that you would want to talk about that.”

“Not for work,” Sho quickly says, dropping a peck on the side of Masaki’s lips. “More like, are you that fast? Or is there anything else that we commoners haven’t found out?”

“Would you care for a demonstration?”

“Mhm, no.” And when Sho sees Masaki’s face fall a little bit in disappointment, he grins and adds, “I mean, not now.” 

Masaki rolls his eyes. “Just for that, I’m not going to tell you how much fun I had with my x-ray vision power lately.”

“What?” Sho catches on immediately, and partially because Masaki is now grinning. “Masaki, that’s rather—intrusive. Wait. You used it on that press conference day, didn’t you?”

“Guilty as charged. You were so attractively serious.” Masaki’s grin is playful and a bit lecherous. His expression sobers slightly as he remembers something else. “And Sho-chan, I didn’t have the chance to tell you before, but you looked so different on that press conference day, on full work mode Sakurai Sho. I could barely hold it together, and that’s probably why I came out distant and looking unaffected.”

“Oh, shut up. I was such a mess that day and you looked absolutely and devastatingly hot,” Sho says, belatedly realizing him saying that out loud, his eyes fluttered close with embarrassment.

Masaki laughs in delight as he sees Sho’s flush cheeks redden further. “Likewise.”

Comfortable silence falls again between them. Right here in Sho’s kitchen, they are starting again. After a moment, Sho opens his eyes, this time knowing exactly what he wants to say. “Have you had dinner?”

Masaki shakes his head and smiles. “I’ll deal with it, then. Can I borrow your kitchen?”

Sho smiles back as he answers. “It’s yours.”


End file.
